The country singer, known for her huge soprano voice, is self-releasing "Everlasting" on March 4, an album of classic soul and R&B songs made famous by the likes of Franklin and James, and Elvis and Van Morrison.

"It seemed interesting," she said. "And as a singer, really challenging and fun, too, to push my boundaries a little bit and tackle some of these classic songs and performances."

Randy Scruggs, son of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs, stands near a statue of his father at the Earl Scruggs Center in honor of his father during a tour that took place after the Earl Scruggs Center dedication ceremony at Central United Methodist Church on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 in Shelby, N.C. (photo: Associated Press / The Star, Ben Earp)

In his 88 years, Earl Scruggs found a new way to play the banjo, an instrument that was clattering toward antiquity until he gave it a new and eloquent voice.

In so doing, Scruggs helped create a new form of country music now recognized as “bluegrass,” he inspired thousands of players and millions of songs and he altered the course of American popular music.

Now, a year and 10 months after his death, Scruggs and his singular legacy are helping to rejuvenate the once-decaying uptown square in Shelby, N.C., the town where he worked making sewing thread in the Lily Mill, and where he left in 1945 to head west — first to Knoxville, then to Nashville — to fulfill his destiny.

The first time Martina McBride released an album of cover songs it was the fastest-selling album of her career. “Timeless” was released in 2005 and sold more than 1 million copies.

With Thursday’s announcement of “Everlasting,” her second collection of cover tunes, she’s hoping for the same success.

Tracks on “Everlasting” include “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” originally by Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes, “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” popularized by Aretha Franklin, and Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home to Me,” which McBride performs as a duet with Gavin DeGraw.

“I think my fans will love this record because they are some of the best songs of all time done in a very classic style,” McBride says. “I’m so excited for them to hear it and to take this record, complete with a horn section, on the road in the spring.”

The singer, who has had country hits including “Independence Day” and “Broken Wing,” recorded the album at her family’s Blackbird Studio in Nashville and will release it on her own label.

A smiling Harrison gave a crying, speechless Glover a hug before Glover performed her new single “I Am Beautiful” on the show.

Glover’s crowning marked the end of the journey for Harrison, who had largely received nothing but praise while on the show. A highlight came earlier in the season when Harrison covered Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make it Through the Night.” The performance earned praise from judge Keith Urban, who said he thought she’d be a member of the Grand Ole Opry one day, and a Tweet from Merle Haggard, who complimented her voice on Twitter and said “a lot of people sing all (their) life, but never sing that good.”

Harrison and Glover were largely absent from the first part of the two-hour finale, which was largely focused on eliminated members and surprise duets.

Frankie Valli sang with the season’s five eliminated men from the Top 10; the season’s Top 5 women sang with Aretha Franklin, who was not there but performed on a screen behind them.

Mariah Carey performed a medley of her hits. Emeli Sande sang with eliminated contestant Amber Holcomb. Psy took the stage with a gaggle of dancers, and Urban brought his band out for the television premiere of his new single “A Little Bit of Everything.”

Then Glover and Harrison emerged to deliver impressive duets, Glover with former “Idol” contestant Jennifer Hudson on “Inseparable” and Harrison with Urban on his “Where the Blacktop Ends,” featuring Travis Barker on drums and Randy Jackson on bass.

Even before her success on “Idol,” Harrison was no stranger to the recording industry. She was signed to a development deal with Lyric Street Records at age 10, and moved to Nashville from Texas. The partnership ended two years later with no music released to the market. Since then she’s played shows around Nashville and sang on the albums of her friends including Kacey Musgraves.

Click here for a photo gallery of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill opening their Soul2Soul run at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas this weekend. (Photo: Larry McCormack/The Tennessean)

LAS VEGAS - Cruise through the casino at The Venetian, the ornate Italian-themed Las Vegas resort, and you’ll find the cowboy hat count on the uptick this weekend.

Some cowboys had come for the roping at the annual Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, which happens in Sin City this week. But others had come for the music.

Larry Smith, for example, might have been sporting a Western-style shirt with Wrangler and Jack Daniels patches, but he flew to Vegas with his wife Lisa solely to see Faith Hill and Tim McGraw’s show Soul2Soul, which opened on Friday.

“We just like country music,” Lisa Smith said of making the trip from Beaumont, Calif.

It seemed many of the 1,800 people in the Venetian Theatre for the star couple’s second night of their 10-weekend stand like country music, too, as Hill and McGraw delivered a high-energy but often intimate show that prompted multiple standing ovations, overhead clapping and arms stretched to the theater’s domed ceiling.

Click to see a gallery of images from the red carpet of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony (This photo of Ricky Skaggs, Jaci Velasquez and Jason Crabb: Larry McCormack/The Tennessean)

Artists from all corners of the Christian music community gathered in Hendersonville on Tuesday to welcome the latest group of inductees into the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

That group's impressive range was reflected in its two best-known inductees: "Queen of Soul" and Tennessee native Aretha Franklin (who was not in attendance) and country/bluegrass star Ricky Skaggs, who sat front and center in the audience at Trinity Music City.

Skaggs told The Tennessean that joining the Hall of Fame was a special honor -- in part because he "never saw it coming."

"I'm a Christian, but I'm really a secular artist, more 'marketplace music' you would call it," he said. "So this one kind of really slipped up on me, and when I saw it come in, that they were honoring me, it was a special treat. It was such a shock, such a surprise."

The ceremony is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show will begin at 7 p.m. Trinity Music City is located at 1 Music Village Boulevard in Hendersonville. For more information visit www.gmahalloffame.org.

Aretha Franklin is one of six people who'll be inducted into the Hall on Aug. 14 in Hendersonville, Tenn. She'll be joined by bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs, family group The Hoppers, contemporary Christian singer Dallas Holm, the late TV evangelist Rex Humbard and Christian rock band Love Song.

Franklin's gospel roots run deep, starting with her father who was a prominent Baptist minister. Her 1972 album, "Amazing Grace," has sold over 2 million copies and is one of the best-selling gospel albums of all time.

The Gospel Music Hall of Fame was established in 1971. More than 150 members have been inducted, including Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley.

Listeners that only know Joan Osborne from her 1995 rock hit “One of Us” might not realize that the New York-based singer-songwriter is blessed with some truly powerful pipes, perfect for belting out soul-stirring R&B.

It’s no surprise, then, that having her tackle a stable of classic blues songs on her new album, Bring It On Home, was an inspired idea — but not one she can take credit for.

Osborne says she was “kind of lukewarm” when her label pitched the concept, but “the more I thought about it, the more I realized, ‘This is the music that I really cut my teeth on as a singer.’ I learned to sing by trying to emulate people like Otis Redding, Etta James, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin -- all of those people were really my idols when I first started trying to learn to sing.”

Home ended up being a notably fun record for Osborne to make, one of many successful musical detours she’s made in recent years. Several have brought or connected her to Nashville — she’s appeared on tribute albums to Bill Monroe (with Ricky Skaggs) and Dolly Parton, and has a Nashville-based Southern rock group, Trigger Hippy, with the Black Crowes’ Steve Gorman and others.

Considering these connections, Osborne is planning to make her Nashville tour stop -- Friday at 3rd & Lindsley -- a special one. In addition to several cuts from Home, she’s hoping to throw a few of those country cuts into her set, and is extending invitations to several of her friends in town.

And it may only be a matter of time before she makes a Music City visit a permanent one.

“Every time I come down there,” she says with a laugh, “I’m like, ‘Is this the year that I’m going to move to Nashville, like everyone that I know?’ ”